Charles w



C' W- STEBBINS GAME,

Patented Feb. 17 1891 @wi/1514,93 Q

@rares armar. @errent CHARLES lV. STEBBINS, OF NEV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

SPECIFICATION `forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,481, datedFebruary 1'?, 1891..

Application filed July I7, 1890.

To @ZZ whom it 71mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. Sfrnnmins, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, haveinvcnted certain new and useful Improvements in Games,of which the following is a specication.

The object of my invention is to provide a game in which by suitabletipping motions and skillful management of the game apparatus thedelivery of a series of spherical rollers along an angular' or windingpassage and among a group of receiving-pockets of different counts orvalues and the successful depos iting of the rollers into the saidpockets to insure a maximum count will afford entertainment and involvethe exercise of considerable dexterity and skill.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of thegame-case to form the angular passage and the receiving compartments andpockets and the combination therewith of the series of spherical rollersor balls and the pop up indicator for signaling the highest count, allas hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure l is a perspective view of my improved game, and Fig. 2 is acentral vertical longitudinal section through the saine. Fig. 3 is aplan view with the partition which separates the upper and lowercompartments removed to show the bottom of the case.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the case of my improved game,which is a shallowT oblongr box of wood, card-board, or other suitablematerial, and is preferably proportioned with a length of about twiceits width, as shown. rllhe bottom B is flat, and the sides c arestraight and vertical. At the corners of the case and midway of thelongest sides are small wooden blocks D of a height equal to about halfthe depth of the case, which rest upon the bottoni B and are securedsnugly against the vertical sides of the case. Resting upon the saidblocks is a removable bottom E, freely fitting into the ease and adaptedto be readily lifted out and removed therefrom for the purposehereinafter described.

Dn the upper side of the removable bottom E are straight vertical wallsm, arranged par (No modal.)

allel with the sides c o f the case and with their upper edges ilushwith the plane of the upper edge of the case. lThe said walls m and theouter walls c are arranged to divide the space above the removablebottom into a series of straight grooves, which are connected to form asingle angular passage extending as follows:

Commenoing at one end of the case, a transverse groove n extends acrossthe end parallel with the outer wall thereof and connects with thelengthwise groove n2, extending along the side of the ease, which grooveat the opposite end of the case connects with the returngroove n,extending parallel with the groove n2, interior to it and connectingwith a transverse groove n4, pa allel and interior to the groove n',which groove nl is connected with the lengthwise groove a5 on the sideof the case opposite the grooves a2 n3, and the said groove rr" connectswith a lengthwise return-groove a6 interior to it, which opens into acentral rectangular inclosure G, extending from the groove n4 to theopposite end of the case. The said angular passage thus extends down andbach in a return-bend on each side of the case and crosses the endthereof in opposite directions, thus having four right-angled turns andtwo return-beuds- The passage is of uniform width throughout and isadapted to receive and convey the spherical rollers or balls t', withwhich the game is played. The said rollers e' are of uniform size andfit loosely in the passage, being adapted to roll freely along' it andeasily pass around the angles and retmnbends thereof. The rollers maythus be conducted from the end groove n along the entire length of theangular passage and conveyed into the inclosu re G. Through the bottom Bwithin the said inclosure G a series of holes or ports are arranged inthe relation shown, opening through into the compartment Il beneath thebottom E, said holes being designated by the reference-letter a withnumerals. The holes are sufficiently large to freely admit the sphericalrollers i, which may therefore be deposited in them after beingconducted along the angular passage into the inclosure. The said angularpassage opens into the inclosure G at the corner thereof and end of thelengthwise groove n, and the iirst of the series of holes a is placedopposite or lOl in front of the said opening in the central lengthwiseplane of the case, so that the rollers will fall into it as they enterthe inclosure unless they are otherwise directed. The hole u, which isintended to represent the highest count or value, is located near theopposite end of the inclosure inthe central lengthwise plane thereof andat about the same distance from the end as from the walls of theinclosure.

Nearly midway between the holes u u and in line therewith is a hole ug,and nearly midway between the said holes its and the first hole it is apair of holes u2, arranged quite close together in a transverse plane,thus providing a narrow bridge 7s between them. .inclined verticalguides are extended from the side wall of thein'closu re to the outersides of the said holes to restrict the width of the entrance into themain part of the inclosure and leave only the narrow bridge 7s. betweenthe holes u2 for the passage of the rollers t'. Midway between the holes'a2 and a6 are two holes a4, both set in the same transverse plane andrespectively adjacent to the side walls of the inclosure, and similarholes a5 are placed at the corners of the inclosure at the end opposite`to the first hole u. The said holes a3 n4 10" are located all insuitable positions to intercept the rollers on their way to the hole uof highest count and render the depositing of the rollers thereinextremely difficult.

On the bottom of the case are two ears Z, between which a balance-beam pis pivoted and adapted to oscillate freely on th'e pivot o', passingthrough the ears. The ends of the beam are placed, respectively, underthe holes ai* u, and a cupped plate s is secured on the end which isunder the hole ui. To the opposite end of the beam is attached acounter-weight t, which normally holds the cupped plate s up. againstthe removable bottom,but is sufficiently light lo be raised by theweight ofa spherical roller when the roller falls int-o the hole it. andrests upon or strikes the plate s.

The counter-weight t is preferably made spherical and suiiiciently largeto nearly fill the hole us, and when it is projected or popped up abovethe floor of the inclosure Gr by the weight of a ball striking upon theplate s it indicates that the said ball has entered the hole u and thussignals the count. When the plate descends sufficiently to allow theroller to fall off therefrom, the beam will return to its normalposition in readiness to indicate another count, but if a roller fallsinto the hole as it cannot escape past the counter-weight t, and willlodge there and thus prevent successive high counts from being madethroughout the remainder of the game.

, vAt the corner of the case at the junction of the grooves n n2 anaperture or depression o" is provided of such size that it will detainand hold the rollers without passing them through into the compartmentll. The said aperture represents a negative count or forfeit, and if aroller lodges therein in passing the total score of the game is lessenedthereby.

The operation of playing the game is as follows: The spherical rollersare placed in the groove n', and then by suitably and dex? terouslytipping the case A the rollers may be successively caused to roll alongthe angular passage n n2 n3 n* a5 a6 into the inclosure G. By employingsufficient skill they may be deposited in the hole a6; but they areliable to be caught or intercepted, first by the forfeit-hole a', or ifthey escape said hole a greater liability of being caught in the holesa2 remains, and when the rollers are successively passed over the bridge7a considerable skill will be required to direct them around the holeits, which lies directly in the line of the bridge, and past the holesal into the hole et of highest count, and if the rollers pass the hole uthey are liable to be caught by the holes 10" in the cornersof theinclosure. All the holes except thehole a6 may represent uniform valuesor be numbered in ascending series, counting from the hole u as desired.As the rollers are dropped through the hole u the indicator pop-up willannounce the count; but if a roller lodges in the hole'ugno further highcounts can be made during the game, as described. rlhe value of thedepression fr being negative, in order to insure a maximum score, it isnecessary to avoid lodging the rollers in the said depression, eitherwhile passing them over it or by allowing them to roll into it While theattention is directed to the successful exploiting of other rollersthrough thc winding passage or within the inclosure G. After all therollers are played they may easily be taken from the compartment H bysimply removing the bottom E. The count represented by the hole u. maybe negative, if desired, and correspond to forfeiture of the scoregreater than that effected by the aperture 9"; also, if a roller isdropped through the hole u carefully it can be made to remain on theplate s and counted as of a higher score than when the pop-up indicatoris simply sighted, and immediately drops back into place again. Y

The value or count assigned to the holes, the number of rollersemployed, the number of times each series of rollers arey to be playedin a game, and the amount and conditions of the score constituting agame may all be changed as desired and are optional with the players,and the entertainment of the play may thus be varied indeiinitely.

1. ln game apparatus, the combination, with a series of sphericalrollers, of a case having an angular or winding passage, a detentdepression or aperture in the said passage, an inclosure with which thesaid passage communicates, a hole or pocket in the floor of the saidinclosure yopposite the en'- trance of the said passage, a hole orpocket of maximum count, and a series of holes or IOO IOS'

IIO

pockets arranged around and guarding the said port, all the said holesbeing adapted to receive the said rollers, as and for the purposespecilied.

2. In combination, the case A, the removable bottom therein formingupper and lower compartments, vertical walls arranged on the said bottomproviding an angular or winding passage, and an inclosnre G with whichsaid passage communicates, the said removable bottom havinga series ofholes or ports therein within the said inclosure and opening' throughinto the said lower compartment beneath them, and a detent depression inthe said passage, and a series of spherical rollers adapted to be rolledthrough the said angular passage and deposited through the said portsinto the compartment beneath, substantially as specilied.

3. In game apparatus, the combination of the case having a partition orbottom dividing it into upper and lower compartments, and vertical wallsarranged on the said partition to form a continuous passage, having aseries of right angles and return-bends therein, and an inclosure orcompartment into which the said passage opens, the iioor of the saidinclosure having a group or series of holes or ports opening into thelower compartment from the inelosure, and a narrow bridge If, having apitfall u2 on each side thereof and separating the inclosure into partscommunieating only by the said bridge, and the series of sphericalrollers adapted to be rolled through the said passage into the saidinclosure and deposited through the said holes into the compartmentbeneath, substantially in the manner and for the purpose speciiied.

1. In a game, the combination of the box or case A, a partition E,separating the case into an upper space and lowercompartment, wallsseparating the said upper space into the contin nous angular passage an2 n3 n a5 ne and the inclosure G, a detent depression r in the saidcontinuous passage, the holes u within the said inclosure, a narrowbridge k, leading to the body of the inclosure and having a pitfall u2on each side thereof, and a group of holes within said main part of theinclosure adapted to represent different counts or values, all the saidholes opening into the lower cornpartment, and a series of sphericalrollers adapted to be rolled along said angular passage and depositedthrough said holes, substantially in the manner and for the purposespecified.

5. In a game, the combination of-the box or case A, a partition E,separating the case into an upper space andlower compartment, wallsseparating the said upper space into the continuous angular passage n n2n3 n4 a5 no and the inclosure G, the holes u' within the said inclosure, holes u?, forming a narrow bridge to the body or main part oftheinclosure, anda group of holes within said main part of the inclosureadapted to represent different counts or values, all the said holesopening into the lower compartment, a balance-beam pivoted in the lowercompartment with its ends respectively under holes in the body of theinelesure, one end of the said beam carrying a plate and the other anindicator or counterweight, and a series of spherical rollers, all ar`ranged substantially in the manner and for the purpose specilied.

CHARLES XV. STEBBINS.y lVitnesses:

EUGENE Il. MUNN, WILLARD C. WARREN.

